Page 27 of Chubs

Lisa tips somewhat sideways in the seat, then rights herself before shaking her head no at me. Kicking her shoes off, she places the bottom of her feet against the dash of my car, tears running down her face.

“First, get your pissy ass off my seat! Second, get your feet off the dash! If I have an accident, your knees will go through your eye sockets and embed in your brain!”

“Don’t have an acc… never mind. I forgot who I was talking to for a second there,” she answers while placing her feet back on the floorboards.

When my phone buzzes with a call, I glance at it to see Mom’s name. I leave the phone where it’s at. No way am I taking that call. Then Lisa’s phone starts up, and she takes a deep, calming breath before hitting the speakerphone button.

“Dad did it, not us!” Lisa shouts into the phone.

There are a few beats of silence before we hear our mother’s beleaguered voice.

“Oh Lord. Let me get a glass of wine before you explain what your dad did that you two weren’t a part of.”

“She doesn’t know yet,” Lisa says to me with a grin.

“Shhhh! You dumbass! You’re on speakerphone!” I whisper.

“Heard both of you. What don’t I know yet, and what did you two not do but your dad did?” Mom questions in the perfect Mom voice. “Forget I asked. There’s something on the news about…”

Lisa hits the end button in panic, and Mom’s voice disappears.

“Oh God, we’re so fucked,” Lisa tells me with just a hint of a smile.

“You maybe. You just hung up on our mother,” I reply with a smirk.

“I’ll tell her my phone got jacked. You know, from being so close to you,” Lisa returns before she starts laughing again.

I punch my sister in the shoulder, but that excuse might actually work.

A few more weeks pass, and I find I have good days and bad days, but the bubbling anger hasn’t gone away. Little things set it off, and I decide it’s time to go to see Cash.

Walking into the gym, I don’t look at anyone but make my way to the office. Walking in, I see Bailey at her desk and little Alex napping on the couch. Bailey stands up and we hug. When she releases me, I take a seat next to Alex on the couch.

“You’re here to hit things, aren’t you?” Bailey asks with a knowing look.

“And to see you and my goddaughter.”

“It’s good to see you again. Been a while. You’ve lost weight, Lucy,” Bailey observes accurately.

“Yeah, a few pounds. Sorry it’s taken me so long. I haven’t been a good friend lately,” I admit.

“No apologies. You need to take care of yourself first, and you needed some time. I get that.”

Remembering what Gunner said about me not asking if they’d heard anything about Chubs, I do just that now.

“Rex find anything yet?” I ask in a quiet voice.

Bailey stares at me for a moment before shaking her head.

“No, nothing yet,” she answers with another assessing look.

Gunner must have shared his suspicions of me with Axel, and now Bailey is wondering if he was correct.

The door opens, and Axel walks through it. He sits a stack of papers on the desk, turns to me, then scoops me off the couch for a hug. My feet are over a foot off the ground, but that doesn’t stop the large man from giving me a long hug.

“Hey, Axel.”

“I’m hugging you, but I’m not talking to you.”

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